Reviewers;
NovemberEleventh: There will be exile, but if Naruto knew the truth, then he would die as the magic surrounding his heart would kill him.
Akamatt: I know you would, but after checking in with some of my idea betas and the overall theme, this story doesn't fit with Ino added in. I'll see what I can do for a future story though.
JayK24: You have your own signature now? Wow.
Ghostpoet: Cliche twists? I suppose I think that way, but I like the theme and projection of the story so far. When one looks at Stories, episodes, and movies, really everything has been done, just that it is applied to specific times. As for Sasuke, this is just the beginning, Sasuke will show up later on. Also, Frozen is just the setting for me and a small bit of plot. The exile in the movie was a self-exile, whereas I am making it with another character.
Duh Bomb: Great rhymes and times, surely.
As for ManiNova, 7th Demon of Razgriz, and Czar Joseph: I want to thank you for all of your generous comments.
AN: Hey all! So, do you guys like my story or what? Is this a good direction to take it in? Anyways, to note that from now on, my answering on reviews will start to become shorter unless it's in paragraph form or a really good proposal or insight. The reason I am doing this is because ansswering reviews ends up taking a whole hour to do so, and I do not have as much time as I once did anymore.
(Last Time on F&I)
The door to the main dungeon started to open and the people in the cells raised their heads and began their versions of a catcall as a beautiful girl of fifteen walked into the dirty dungeons, a winter coat wrapped tightly around themselves but sadly, their curves were too much for her clothes to hide.
Naruto did not lower his head until he heard the teenager's footfalls stop right outside his cell, and he smiled at his visitor. "Hello…Ino."
Ino looked back, grimly at Naruto. "Naruto…we need to talk."
Fire & Ice
Arc 1: Conceal It
Chapter 7: Exile's Realization
"Hello…Ino"
"Naruto, we need to talk." Ino spoke and Naruto smiled at her as he lifted his arms lazily before they stopped an inch before him as they were cuffed and chained to the wall behind him.
"I'm not going anywhere."
Ino nodded to the guard, turning to the guard. "Open the cell."
"But Lady Ino, if this man breaks free and it'll be-"
"I Said…Open The Cell." Ino spoke, and as a retainer of the royal family, held power in her words just barely less than Sakura herself. For inside Port Haruno were not just Knights of the Haruno royalty but also ten knights to guard Ino in the event of an assault. The guard gulped and nodded his head and unlocked the cell.
Ino walked inside and heard the door close behind her as she was locked inside the cell with who she considered her friend. As the guard walked off, Ino shivered and rubbed her exposed arms, her coat opening to show Naruto her close choice of outer wear, which was more skin than most girls allowed to be shown in the stone world.
"You shouldn't do that here, Ino."
"Do what?" Ino asked, oblivious.
"Show your skin like that. Other prisoners would rape you just to see that amount of skin."
"Thanks, but I'll be okay." Ino spoke as she grabbed the chair at the far wall and sat down before Naruto's place beside the wall.
Naruto chuckled. "Aren't you afraid I might choke you with my chains?"
"You'd never hurt me, Naruto…and never Sakura."
"No, I wouldn't. Sakura has some mind though, placing me here for a whole day."
"...It's been three days Naruto." Ino spoke as her teeth chattered and rubbed her arms again as well as her legs.
"That long? Sakura must have been really scared, then."
"Naruto, she's not in her right mind. Ino advised worriedly. She is demanding your exile."
"It's a bluff, Ino. Sakura loves me. She admitted it to me."
"Maybe she does, Naruto, but she is adamant in the decision."
"Let her be adamant. She can't lie to save her life, Ino. We both know that. Sakura is the perfect princess. She is smart, beautiful, loyal, and trustworthy."
"You forget Naruto, that she is crafty. Maybe she is lying to save your life. If you are exiled, would you leave?"
"Of course not, because it won't happen. I have no need to abandon my duty to the princess."
"Naruto! Do you realize what that means?! You will force Sakura to order your execution!"
"Which she will not do. And if I do leave, she will call me back within a month. Our hearts are meant for the other." Naruto smiled, and Ino saw the love in his eyes, unwavering and not willing to die. But still Ino felt her heart break for her friend. Slowly, Ino lifted herself from the chair and sat on her knees before Naruto.
Ino reached forward with her hands in desperation and held Naruto's cheeks as she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, trying to replicate the kiss they had shared days before. Ino backed off, and sighed. "I know my crush is only that, and that your love is for Sakura. There is one way for you to stay here, Naruto."
"And that is?"
"Say that you don't love her. Say that you love another. You could love me."
"…How could you say that?!" Naruto growled, growing angry at Ino. "You know we belong together!"
"Don't you think I know that?! We don't have to do anything! No lying in a bed together, just no flirting with others. I would be just as hard pressed as you to not flirt with others as you not proclaiming to Sakura your love for her!"
"Just…" Ino paused as she leaned into Naruto's chest and hugged him "…give her up, until she is ready to love you. I don't want to see you die, and I know that if you refuse to leave, and Sakura watches you die, I have this terrible feeling that Sakura will not see the next sunrise, Naruto. I feel things in people's emotions. You know I do. Please…do it for me."
"….You know I can't abandon her, Ino." Naruto unwavering voice answered her, and Ino leaned back and nodded gravely. She knocked on the bars and the guard appeared to unlock the cell doors once more. Ino began to step out before she rushed back and hugged Naruto one last time.
"You stay alive, you hear? Someday, you'll be with her."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Ino." Naruto rolled his eyes and hugged back, before Ino walked away to the sound of catcalls as Ino's tears fell down her face and she tried to erase them with her own light gold-colored gloved hands.
The morning sun rose over the city, but its warm rays did not dive deep enough under the earth to warm the body of Naruto Namikaze. He lay on his side, asleep, and shivering in the cold, as the breath on his lips appeared in a fog around his mouth as frost sparkled on his eyelashes.
The cell door squeaked open and Naruto awoke to a kick in his side. Naruto groaned, as three guards, two knights and the prison guard, stood before him. Naruto smiled. He might as well get this on and over with. Naruto sat up and waited for them to unchain him from the wall. As they did, the knights grabbed hold of his arms and forced him to his feet as they walked him out of the cell and down the hallways to the first of six doors.
Naruto noticed the sincerity in the knights' eyes as the first door opened and they walked through the second hallway to where the second and third doors began to open at their arrival. They knew Naruto and he knew them. In fact, these two knights were Naruto's age, trained from birth to be the elite of soldiers, but they had to follow orders, and since Naruto would never go against the Haruno royalty's words, neither would they, as they, knights, soldiers, and servants had pledged when they were given their positions within the castle.
After a full hour, the last door opened and Naruto walked up with his hands chained together in the front and surrounding him was now four knights of high caliber. Naruto could beat knights his age, but not knights with the experience that came with actual life and death situations. Still, the group moved up and out into the light and waited in the doorway as Naruto blinked away the light that he had been denied for the last four days.
After a few minutes, Naruto was taken through the main entrance while some Sakura fanatics threw spoiled fruit at him, but were luckily extremely poor shots, and threw below and above his head. Naruto was taken after that through the hallways where the usual soldiers stood every twenty feet and up the stone steps of a tower's staircase until he was led to the third floor and placed his feet in front of the closed evergreen doors.
Two knights knocked loudly on the doors, and Naruto cringed a bit, now knowing what it felt like to hear it from the other side. Slowly the doors opened, and Naruto widened his eyes at the slightly larger crowd that had appeared for this. He was sure they all had an excuse to be here, to ensure a treaty, to see to the welfare of the village, but it wasn't everyday a royal accused a servant of stealing her first, and second, kiss.
Naruto was led through the crowd of people, the knights in the room calling for an aisle to be made and the people did so, until the group passed and rushed closer to get a good view. Naruto came to the separation line of royal and non-royal, and was forced to his knees before the stone marble steps that he himself had polished not two weeks prior.
Naruto felt the group of knights step back, trusting him enough to do even that, and he looked up to see the reaction of his King and Queen. They stared back at him, saddened faces adorning them, and he cocked his head a bit. Surely this facade could end now, right? 'Haha Sakura, good one!' Then out of the corner of his eyes, Sakura appeared from around a curved pillar which hid a secret entrance for the royalty, with Ino beside her. Slowly, Sakura stepped to her mother's side somewhat behind the throne.
Naruto's eyes turned to face her and as soon as Sakura saw him turning, she turned away in shame and looked among the crowd, looking aimlessly anywhere else. Naruto's eyes creased in confusion, before the Queen, as the one responsible for acts against her daughter stood up and the crowd and roar hushed around the room. Naruto's eyes disturbed him all of a sudden. It was way too quiet. A cricket could sound like a cannon going off and the tension in the room could cause a panic.
"You are Naruto, childhood friend and sole servant to princess Sakura, correct?"
"Yes." Naruto spoke solemnly, his certain demeanor changing to realization as the seconds passed in this room.
"You were aware that you could never be anything with the princess?"
"Y-yes."
"You were wanting to be intimate with the princess?"
Naruto turned to face Sakura as her eyes glanced at him. "Yes." He spoke with certainty, and Sakura's cheeks blushed as she looked away again, the guilt seen in her facial expressions.
"You stand accused today, By Princess Sakura herself, for having stolen a royal kiss. DO you deny this charge?"
"I cannot." Naruto lowered his eyes in shame. This was actually happening. "I did steal a royal kiss."
"You admit your guilt?"
"Yes, I admit it."
"…Sakura?" Yuki spoke and Naruto looked up and watched as Sakura stepped forward and stood at the top of the steps. Naruto's insides melted before her radiance. Even at his case, she looked strong willed, and powerful, even as her eyes showed shame and hurt.
"Your punishment is exile, Naruto. That, or you may say that your feelings for me have changed. It is your choice between those two things."
"May I speak freely?"
Sakura looked conflicted, not wanting him to make her waver, but she nodded. Naruto smiled sadly. "I will always be without a heart, Lady Sakura. I am without a heart because my life is in your hands, and my feelings lie for you. I am in love with you, and I cannot change that…not even to save my life."
Sakura stuttered and the women in the room shed hidden tears behind fans and gloves, but Sakura refused to be seen in public as weak. Naruto smiled. Just as he'd trained her to do. "Y-you choose exile then?"
"…" Naruto looked to Ino who held her breath. "…Yes."
Ino smiled and nodded her head. Sakura smiled a bit too, but quickly reigned it in. "And you know the punishment if you choose to return without a letter of acceptance back into Port Haruno?"
"Yes."
"As the one who your action is against, I myself will lay you to the sword." Sakura spoke was a clearly strained voice. She had never killed before and Naruto refused to have her kill him. Ino was right, Sakura wouldn't last the night after that.
"I understand."
"Unrestrain him." Sakura spoke and the chains fell to the ground. "You, Naruto, have until the end of the day to leave the city and three days to leave the borders of the territory. If you return, you will forfeit your life to me." Sakura spoke clearly and then walked off, the crowd leaving in a rush to send word of the conflict occurring in Port Haruno.
Two hours later, in the height of the day, Sakura sat on the edge of her bed, her gloved hands brushing aimlessly along the silk sheets. Her boots were off her feet and her feet were bare as they moved back and forth underneath her, almost, but not quite touching the wooden floor.
Sakura's hair was in the braid that she had sported at the royal court this morning, and it now hung on her right shoulder, the ends left out as her hands had played with them since she had left the throne room. Sakura cast a glance around her and sighed sadly.
The way she looked right now was like a virgin inside a love hotel or a bride on the first day of her honeymoon, but Sakura was missing the key ingredient; her lover. Sakura shot her head back to look at her door, but her eyes moved through it in the direction of Naruto's door, where he was now packing up his stuff and probably breaking everything Sakura had ever given him.
Sakura turned back to the balcony which showed the land and mountains of Port Haruno, and reached between her showing cleavage of her gown to pull out a liquid blue sapphire that was attached to her Haruno red ruby necklace. To think, Naruto had given her this. She shouldn't still be wearing it, but it had been through all of this with her; the stabbing, the powers, the kissing, and now the betrayal. Her love was dead, left inside this little piece of crystal waiting to be reborn when her powers were mastered.
She thought Naruto could be at her side, and that one crack in hope had caused her to inflict all this on her love. Why was she such a cruel princess? Sakura held in some tears with a sniffle as the waterworks threatened to fall. She was just like the rest of her magical sisters. She was a cruel and evil witch, playing with the heartstrings of men.
A knock sounded on her door, and opened without her permission and Sakura turned to see the door completely open and Naruto stood in the doorway. Sakura took in his traveling clothes, as if in memorization. He was forbidden now from wearing the black and red colors or the symbol of his loyalties. Naruto wore the colors that his family wore, of the same black color, but where the red had been before, now was the blue, which matched his eyes, and the thought made Sakura want to cry even more.
"I am all packed, your highness. And I have said goodbye to everyone."
Sakura sniffled. "Then you have my permission to leave."
"May I have one last meeting with her highness before I leave?"
Sakura turned away. She shouldn't allow it. Her emotions were haywire and she didn't trust herself, but for the first time, her mind was set on what it wanted. "Come sit beside me and speak."
Sakura closed her eyes and as she felt the bed shift to accommodate Naruto's weight, they just sat there for a few minutes in total silence.
"…I remember kissing your neck every morning."
Sakura opened her eyes and turned to look at Naruto as he smiled at her. "But I always had a secret that I did before that."
"Did you…touch me?"
"In a way…I kissed your forehead every morning."
Sakura gasped and stared at him in awe. "So then, all those dreams I had that you said were fake-"
"Lies. I did it because it was the one thing I had that no one could know or take away. Just as that, I realize now that something is forcing this wedge between us."
"I-I ah…" Sakura stuttered and sighed. "Yes."
"But you can't tell me, right?"
"No."
"I can settle for this." Naruto spoke as his arms wrapped around Sakura in a hug and Sakura smiled and hugged back, and they took in the other's warm embrace. After an hour of just staying like that, they broke off, and Sakura looked deeply at him.
"I Do Love you, Naruto."
"I know," Naruto smiled that smile of his, and Sakura giggled a bit, before sadness returned on her face. "And I have a present for you."
"F-for me? A-after all I've done to you?" Sakura asked as Naruto led her eyelids closed and he left for a minute. Sakura would just settle for Naruto still being at her side when she opened her eyes. But then a small wet tongue licked her nose, and Sakura wrinkled her face and opened her eyes and smiled brightly.
In front of her was a small puppy looking at her with its head cocked to the side. It's fur was as white as snow and her eyes as black as night. Sakura gasped as the puppy jumped into Sakura's lap and licked her chin.
"Naruto, is this what I think it is."
"Yes. A Timber Wolf pup."
"But-how-"
"I found it just after my accident, when it was ruffling through the forest for food. I took care of it and I would have given it to you in two months for your birthday, but since I'm leaving, I guess it's a going away present."
"Oh Naruto! She's beautiful." Sakura smiled and giggled as the little fur ball curled up on the bed and fell asleep.
Naruto held Sakura's hands and bent down to kiss each of her knuckles as Sakura blushed and smiled. "You know how I feel, and that will not change. Ever. When this…unseen force is gone, call for me. I will return to you."
Sakura cried on the inside. Her magic would never be gone, but Naruto could leave her in happiness and so she brought her face forward and landed a small royal kiss briefly on his lips and as they stayed there five inches apart, they smiled into the other's eyes.
AN: As you may have guessed, Timberwolves are my favorite animal, and now they are in my story too.